Hutchison Island, FL

Some of my happiest childhood memories come right from this place.  Even though I was raised in CT, I spent almost every summer down in my grandparent's condo.  And almost all of the memories I have of my Poppi are in Florida.....playing in the pool, sandcastles on the beach, breakfast on the terrace.  I've thought about bringing Adalyn down here since I was pregnant with her.  In fact, during my brief stint in FL in late 2010, I made the drive over from St. Petersburg to bring Nonni a picture of my 8 week ultrasound.  I immediately thought about all the memories I could make with my future child down at this place.  It was incredibly special to bring Adalyn down here.
 







So, we did all the things I used to do:

She was immediately put in a swimsuit.

And brought to the pool.

Nonni bought Adalyn a rubber ducky that she would not let go.

She swam with her Nonni.

She met the ocean. 

(perhaps a bit too abruptly...woops!).

She preferred the view from above.

But she LOVED the beach.

True to tradition, she had her breakfast on the terrace every morning.

And was up for the sunrise.

The best part of the trip was precious time with family.

She even got to meet her great uncles Kenny and Stevey.  I have soooo many awesome memories with by dad's brothers.  They'll  have her on a jet ski soon.

And she met her Aunti Twinkie and Uncle Charlie.

Andrew got to practice with my camera.  He's pretty good with it!

He even got all artistic on me.

We met up with some old friends (Hi Elaine and Bill!)  Thanks for capturing this shot:

Andrew and I also took Adalyn out to Conchy Joe's.  We could not wait for conch fritters!

It's across the intercoastal, so we get a nice view of the condo from there.

And it wouldn't be a trip to Hutchison Island without a visit to the 15th floor.

Just some more favorites (what I do without my camera?!) :

I want to go back to paradise.

Don't worry, we left our mark in the sand.

And I'll leave you with some baby babble.  She's gonna be a talker!